Army strength declined from around 800,000 to 783,000 over
the course of fiscal year 1974, but the force structure remained basically the
same-13 active, divisions backed by 8 divisions and 21 combat brigades in the
Reserve Components. The forward deployment
of major active forces included four and a third divisions in Europe, one in
Korea, two-thirds of a division in Hawaii, and special mission brigades in
Alaska, Panama, and Berlin. Seven combat divisions were stationed in the
continental United States.

The activations and inactivations within the Regular Army
during the fiscal year are listed below. Of particular note was the activation
of the first of three planned Ranger battalions in January
1974. These elite infantry units, composed of highly trained airborne-Ranger
personnel, will be able to deploy rapidly to any location in the world, to
infiltrate by air, land, or sea, and to operate independently for short periods
or in conjunction with other U.S. or allied forces.

As in the previous fiscal year, the Army sought to improve
the ratio of combat units to support units within United States Army, Europe (USAREUR),
by reducing or consolidating several USAREUR headquarters. In July 1974 the
command reduced the headquarters staff by 5 percent, which yielded 130 spaces to
fill high-priority manpower requirements and
increase the readiness of combat units.
Responding to an October 1973 Department of the Army directive calling for
substantial reductions in management

[3]

headquarters throughout the Army, U.S. Army, Europe, planned
for the elimination of two subordinate headquarters, the Theater Army Support
Command and the Engineer Command, that would free 585 spaces for use in
improving combat readiness during the coming year.

This year's REFORGER exercise was held during 29 September-21
November 1973. In the first phase of the exercise, 29 September-9
October, a force comprising 11,125 persons from the 1st Infantry Division and
eight nondivisional units was flown in C-141 and C-5 aircraft to German
airfields at Rhein Main, Ramstein, and Stuttgart-Echterdingen. After issue of
prepositioned unit sets of equipment and assembly, the force moved by truck
convoy to a major unit assembly area southwest of Nuremberg. Certain Charge, the
field training portion of the exercise, extended from 10 to 19 October 1973. It
involved extensive offensive and defensive maneuvers
for all participants, which, in addition to the continental United States (CONUS)
based force, included USAREUR, Canadian,
and West German units. The final phase of the exercise got under way on 20
October as the CONUS units began movement
to the major training area at Grofenwoehr, where final maintenance activities
and test-firing of all major weapons systems took place. The main body
redeployed between 30 October and 4 November 1973. The rear party, which was
charged with moving all unit equipment back to prepositioned equipment storage
sites, completed redeployment to home stations on 21 November 1973.

On 20 July 1973 the Secretary of Defense designated the Secretary
of the Army executive agent for matters pertaining to U.S. military personnel
serving as observers with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO),
an agency organized in 1948 to monitor the truce agreements between Israel and
its Arab neighbors. When the Army assumed responsibility for U.S. support, the
organization consisted of 217 military observers from sixteen nations, 8 of whom
were from the United States, 5 from the Army, and 1 each from the Navy, Marine
Corps, and Air Force. Two U.S. observers served at UNTSO headquarters in
Jerusalem: one, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas S. Krawciw, U.S. Army, as chief
operations officer, and the other as personnel sergeant. Two observers were
assigned in Lebanon, one as assistant operations officer and one to serve at
observation posts on the Lebanese side of the Israel-Lebanon border. The
remaining four members of the U.S. contingent manned observation posts on the
Israeli side of the Golan Heights.

When war broke out in the Middle East in October 1973,
Colonel Krawciw, in the absence of the UNTSO chief of staff, was

[4]

the senior United Nations official at UNTSO headquarters. He
was responsible for observer operations and reporting to the United Nations
Secretary General during the early days of the war. The U.S. military observers,
some of whom were stranded for days at observation posts in the thick of the
fighting, performed creditably. One observer, Lieutenant Commander Merle A.
Waugaman, U.S. Navy, received the Bronze
Star Medal for valor in the performance of his duties on the Golan Heights.

The U.S. government assisted in supporting the United Nations
Emergency Force (UNEF), which was established by United Nations resolution to
supervise the disengagement of Egyptian and Israeli forces on 25 October 1973.
Air transportation for a number of UNEF contingents was furnished, military
assistance deliveries to Panama were expedited in order to equip the Panamanian
contingent, and other materiel support was provided on a reimbursable basis upon
request by the United Nations. Since the establishment of the United Nations
Emergency Force, the U.S. Army has furnished $2 million in logistical support.

On 30 November 1973 a four-service augmentation force consisting
of twenty-eight men deployed for duty with the United Nations Truce Supervision
Organization, which raised the U.S. contingent to thirty-six observers. The new
authorization, which was the same as a new Soviet contribution, reflected the
understanding between the United Nations,
the Soviet Union, and the United States to keep military forces of permanent
members of the United Nations Security Council out of the area on a unilateral
basis or as part of the United Nations Emergency Force.

A change in political conditions permitted the increased
American observer force to perform duties on the Syrian and Egyptian sides of
the cease-fire lines in the Sinai and Golan Heights. The four American military
officers assigned by the United Nations
Truce Supervision Organization to Damascus in December 1973 represented the
first official U.S. presence in Syria since diplomatic relations between the two
countries were severed in 1967. In both Syria and Egypt, officers of the Soviet
Union and the United States performed observer duties side by side.

The withdrawal of U.S. forces from the Far East continued
throughout fiscal year 1974, especially from Thailand, where the most recent
series of withdrawals, begun in March 1974, would eventually involve
approximately 10,000 military personnel as well as strategic, tactical, and
support aircraft. U.S. Army Special

[5]

Forces, Thailand (USASFT), which had been established in 1966
to assist the Royal Thai Army in conducting counterinsurgency training, was
inactivated on 31 March 1974 because the Thai Army had learned to train its own
counterinsurgency forces. During its existence, the U.S. Special Forces also
gave advice and assistance to the Royal Thai Army Special Warfare Center,
trained Thai Special Forces such as air base security personnel, and conducted a
limited civic action program. To accomplish, their mission, USASFT detachments
were located with Thai Special Forces at several training camps scattered
throughout Thailand. The task of the detachments was to instruct the Thai
trainers. The men of the detachments, however, did not assume a direct training
role and did not participate in Thai combat operations against insurgents.

Following the withdrawal of U.S. Army Special Forces, Thailand,
the 1st Special Forces Group (-) stationed in Okinawa and its associated
psychological operations, civil affairs, engineer, and intelligence
detachments-which were collectively termed Security Assistance Force (SAF),
Asia-were withdrawn from the Pacific. Most of SAF, Asia, including 1st Special
Forces Group (-), was inactivated during June 1974. The only U.S. Army Special
Forces unit remaining in Asia at the close of the fiscal year was an eight-man
detachment in Korea.

During fiscal year 1974 the 19th Logistical Support Brigade
was activated in Korea to become the major logistical headquarters in place of
the 19th and 23d General Support Groups. The brigade assumed the support
missions of both group headquarters, many of the supply responsibilities
previously performed by Headquarters,
Eighth U.S. Army, and certain logistical functions of the joint U.S. Military
Advisory Group, Korea, in support of U.S. security assistance to the Republic of
Korea.

For Okinawa the Department of Defense (DOD) had planned for
the eventual release of 29 of 77 facilities and the partial release of 19
others. Of forty facilities controlled by the Army, twenty-two
were scheduled for release. During fiscal year 1974, the Army released all or
portions of 13 facilities, of which 6, covering approximately
600 acres, were returned to the government of Japan, and 7, involving an area of
about 1,800 acres, were taken over by other U.S. military services.

The Army continued to provide materiel support to the armed forces of the
Republic of Vietnam on a piece-for-piece replacement basis in accordance with
Article 7 of the cease-fire agreement. On 1 July 1974 the Army's primary
logistics role in Vietnam changed from active program management to the
execution of supply actions directed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

[6]

Following the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Vietnam
in March 1973, the American Embassy in Saigon, pursuant to Article 12 of the
Geneva Convention, assumed the role of monitoring
U.S. obligations for 103 unrepatriated prisoners of war captured
by U.S. forces and held by Republic of Vietnam forces. Of these, sixty-two
refused repatriation, and forty-one were detained by the Republic of Vietnam to
serve civil sentences for crimes committed while in a prisoner of war status.
The first group was released into Vietnamese society in June 1973. The civil
sentences imposed on individuals in the second group were commuted, and they
were released or repatriated on 7 March 1974 in accordance with an agreement
reached on 1 February 1974 during the Two Party Joint Military Commission
negotiations.

In mid-August 1973, Army forces in the Pacific gave major
assistance to flood-ravaged Pakistan. As requested by the United States Agency
for International Development through the joint Chiefs of Staff and the Pacific
Command, ten boats carrying disaster relief teams from the Special Action Force,
Asia, then based on Okinawa, and a detachment of six UH-1 helicopters from the
52d Aviation Battalion stationed in Korea were deployed to the disaster area on
19 August 1973. The relief force evacuated personnel, supplied food, did
spraying operations, and supported an immunization program. The relief teams
redeployed on 10 September, and most of the aviation detachment, less the six
helicopters that were subsequently turned over to Pakistan, returned
to Korea on 1 October.

U.S. Army, Alaska, continued its mission of assisting the
North American Air Defense Command and conducting the ground defense of the
northernmost area of the United States. The 172d Infantry Brigade, based at
Forts Richardson and Wainwright, was the command's major combat force. It
participated in two joint training exercises during the year. In February 1974
it was announced that Headquarters, U.S.
Army, Alaska, would be discontinued. After
1 July 1974, Army operations in Alaska were to be carried out by the 172d
Infantry Brigade under the command and control of U.S. Army Forces Command, Fort
McPherson, Georgia.

During fiscal year 1974 the U.S. Army Forces Southern Command
(USARSO) improved its military readiness. The potential for violence directed
against the Panama Canal Zone decreased somewhat because progress was being made
in Panama Canal Treaty negotiations. The tenth anniversary of the 9 January 1964

[7]

Panama in memory of those who died, passed quietly and
without incident.

In preparation for discontinuing U.S. Army Forces Southern
Command, which was to be completed by 31 December 1974, command of its forces
was transferred to the U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Georgia, on 1
July 1974, and a phased reduction and transfer of functions to the 193d Infantry
Brigade (Canal Zone) was begun. The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command,
Fort Monroe, Virginia, assumed responsibility
for the Army Reserve officer training program and other individual training and
doctrinal functions in the Canal Zone. Similarly, nontactical medical units and
facilities came under the command of the U.S. Army Health Services Command, Fort
Sam Houston, Texas, and the U.S. Army Communications Command remained
responsible for communications activities.

In other actions related to the Army's role in Latin America,
the Secretary of the Army in January 1974 approved Army staff proposals designed
to further rapport with Latin American military
representatives. Included among these were the Secretary's meeting with honor
graduates of Latin American military academies,
his attending functions at the Inter-American Defense Board, and his making an
address before the students of the Inter-American
Defense College. Also, following a four-year hiatus, the Chiefs of Staff of the
American Armies met in Caracas, Venezuela, in September 1973. The U.S. Army
delegation was led by its Chief of Staff, General Creighton W. Abrams. The main
conference was preceded by the Intelligence
Conference of American Armies which, among other activities, prepared an
estimate of the military situation in the Americas. This report was, in part,
the basis for open and frank discussions related to the Inter-American Military
System.

Within the United States the major change in the status of
the Army forces involved air defense units. The U.S. Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM)
began fiscal year 1974 with 48 Nike-Hercules batteries (21 active and 27
National Guard) dedicated to the defense of
continental United States. Additionally, ARADCOM commanded 3 air defense
battalions (1 Hercules and 2 Hawk), which had the dual mission of providing
CONUS air defense and maintaining mobile readiness for contingency missions
overseas. A review, which was directed by the Secretary of Defense, of the
continental air defense mission against the strategic nuclear threat indicated
that changes should be made in light of the Soviet's increased intercontinental
ballistic missiles (ICBM) capability as compared to the diminishing capabilities
represented by manned aircraft. The Department of Defense, in August 1973,

[8]

placed a lesser priority on maintenance of the existing
posture for defense against manned aircraft and directed the phase-out of the
forty-eight Nike-Hercules batteries assigned to CONUS defense. The remaining
four Nike-Hercules units and eight Hawk units in Florida were retained for
contingency and training missions. As a consequence of the 48 battery
inactivations, which began in March 1974, 2 region, 8 group, 13 battalion, and
ARADCOM headquarters were planned for inactivation by December 1974. Current
strategy for CONUS air defense, which takes into account the prohibition for
continental defense against strategic missiles as set forth in the SALT
(Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) Treaty, emphasizes attack warning and
surveillance and control of our airspace rather than active defense. Available
to carry out this strategy are 20 interceptor units consisting of 6 U.S. Air
Force active duty F-106 squadrons; 6 F-106, 6 F-101, and 2 F-102 Air National
Guard squadrons; and the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade, which consists of
the four Nike-Hercules and eight Hawk batteries in Florida.

Army readiness underwent steady improvement throughout fiscal
year 1974. Early in the year the Army instituted a revised unit readiness
reporting system under the provisions of Army Regulation 220-1. The revised
system promoted one Army and total force goals by bringing Reserve Component and
Regular Army units under the same reporting system. Concurrently, the Army's
readiness reporting procedures were merged with the joint Chiefs of Staff
readiness reporting system, thus eliminating duplication and simplifying
procedures while improving accuracy and timeliness. Field commands liked the
revised system for its simplicity, reduced reporting burden, and improved
timeliness. By June 1974, the Army was able to classify all its major units as
ready for combat.

The Army's overall logistic readiness also improved
significantly during fiscal year 1974. Although reorganizational adjustments and
changeover to the G series of the tables of organization and equipment caused
some equipment shortages, these were overcome through intensive management
programs, on-site visits, and surveillance
of readiness reports. As the period closed, the availability of equipment on
hand had reached authorized levels in 93 percent
of all reporting units, and 80 percent of the units reported that equipment
status, which includes the condition of equipment
as well as its availability, was also at required levels. The established goals
for this period, 90 percent for equipment on hand and 70 percent for equipment
status, had been surpassed.

During the past year improvements in command and control were
concentrated on the Worldwide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS). The
WWMCCS Objective Plan underwent its annual review, and revisions emphasized
crisis management, support of selective
release of nuclear weapons, and the interface requirements between strategic
and. tactical command and control systems. In Europe command, control, and communications
abilities and limitations were examined, problem areas identified, and
operational improvements made.

The WWMCCS automatic data processing (ADP) contract was
amended to permit greater flexibility in the system's configuration and to allow
a longer period for ordering and delivering remote terminals and other
components. As noted in last year's report, WWMCCS computer systems had been set
up during fiscal year 1973 at three sites. The remaining systems were installed
and accepted as follows:

Headquarters

Testing Completed

U.S. Army Forces Command

12 July 1973

U.S. Army War College

8 August 1973

U.S. Army, Pacific

23 October 1973

Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service

9 November 1973

Hardware security at all seven of the completed sites was improved
by the installation of off-line cathode-ray tubes, teletypewriters,
and remote line printers.

The Regular Army civil affairs structure was affected by two
decisions taken during fiscal year 1974. The first was to reorganize the civil
affairs units at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, into a single battalion during
fiscal year 1975. The second involved inactivation of the two forward-deployed
civil affairs units. The 1st Civil Affairs Battalion in the Pacific was
inactivated at the end of the reporting period, and the 3d Civil Affairs Group
in the Southern Command will be placed on the inactive list during the coming
year. With these changes in force structure only one battalion will remain to
meet the requirements for civil affairs support in contingencies short of
mobilization. By necessity, functional civil affairs support will be limited and
emphasis placed on general support. Offsetting the change in support is the
freeing of 694 spaces for higher priority combat roles.

The reorganization of civil affairs units in the U.S. Army
Reserve was again deferred pending resolution of questions stemming
from the proposed reduction of the Reserve Component structure by 48,000 paid
drill spaces.

In the field of psychological operations, the development of the

[10]

PSYOP Automated Management Information System (PAMIS)
continued. The first system component, the Foreign Media Analysis
Subsystem, currently contains a two-year data base derived from selected news
media of the People's Republic of China, Democratic
People's Republic of Vietnam, and Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The
completion of the Foreign Area Data Subsystem led to the development, in June
1974, of a test model PSYOP bank for a specific country. The PSYOP Effects
Subsystem, the final component of PAMIS, uses data from other subsystems,
current intelligence, and preestablished indicators of effects. The Effects
Subsystem will be designed to measure the effectiveness of PSYOP programs and
campaigns. Under current Army planning, the full development of the PSYOP
Automated Management Information System and
the refinement of technical procedures and instructional manuals are to be
completed by the end of fiscal year 1976.

The Army and other DOD agencies extensively reviewed chemical
warfare policies during the year. The Army accelerated programs to improve its
defense against chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) warfare in response
to elaborate Soviet capabilities in this
area as revealed by equipment captured from Soviet-equipped Arab forces during
the October 1973 Middle East war: all vehicles and all soldiers captured were
adequately equipped against CBR agents.

Subcommittees of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives
Foreign Affairs Committees held numerous hearings on the nation's chemical
warfare policy. Findings and recommendations
were not completed by the end of the fiscal year, nor had the U.S. Senate
ratified the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and
Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons, and on their
Destruction. The convention, which was described in last year's report, will
also require the approval of the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom
before it enters into force.

The Army's request for legislative authority to abolish the
Chemical Corps was submitted to Congress on 22 May 1973, but no action had been
taken on the matter by the end of fiscal year 1974. Legislative approval was
also sought to permit the sale of 1,294 one-ton containers of obsolete phosgene
stored at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Denver, Colorado. This material is identical
to a carbonyl chloride commercial chemical used in the production of plastic.
Approval of the request would eliminate the re-

[11]

quirement to dispose of this material by chemical
neutralization and would result in a substantial savings to the government.

The first phase of Project Eagle, the disposal of an obsolete
mustard agent stored in 3,407 one-ton containers at Rocky Mountain
Arsenal, was completed in March 1974. The second phase of the project, the
disposal of 21,115 obsolete M34 GB Clusters, was started in October 1973. Also,
the Secretary of Defense on 13 October 1973 decided to dispose of the GB bulk
agent and munition deterrent and
retaliatory stockpile at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, and this task was added to the
second phase of Project Eagle. The fall of 1976 was set as the target date for
completing the expanded project.

As noted in previous reports, Operation Chase involved the
disposal, in August 1970, of obsolete chemical munitions on a liberty ship hulk
by scuttling. Afterwards, the Navy completed its fifth and last survey of the
Operation Chase disposal site and found no contamination of the water
surrounding the sunken hulk or evidence of any noticeable change in sea life.

In tactical nuclear operations, the U.S. Army Training and
Doctrine Command began work on converting the broad concepts
and policies contained in a paper entitled Deployment and Employment Policy for
Tactical Nuclear Weapons, which was approved
by the Chief of Staff in fiscal year 1973, into more detailed doctrine suitable
for field manuals. The Concepts Analysis Agency was to review and refine
existing methodologies for determining tactical weapons requirements to
incorporate these concepts. The study, Tactical Nuclear Requirements
Methodology, was scheduled for completion
in December 1974.

Considerable progress was made during fiscal year 1974 in
planning the levels of war reserve stocks. for allied nations. In consonance
with the Nixon Doctrine and congressional actions, the United States is relying
more heavily on allies to develop their own defense capabilities. To aid in this
process, the U.S. provides security assistance materiel and services under grant
aid and sales arrangements.

In recognition of the burdens on allies and the need for
rapid logistic support under wartime conditions, the United States undertook
a program to acquire war reserve stocks that can be used to meet emergencies. To
this end, plans were developed to use appropriated funds for war reserve stocks
to meet the needs of selected countries and regions in support of U.S. strategy
and national interest. Also, the U.S. Army War College Strategic

[12]

Studies Institute began to compare and evaluate U.S. and
Soviet security assistance system capabilities. The study has the aim of
discovering how the Soviets can move massive quantities of equipment
into any area in the world to meet political requirements, apparently on very
short notice, without degrading their own readiness. It is designed to emphasize
those characteristics of the Soviet system which enhance responsiveness and to
identify U.S. characteristics that could be modified to make U.S. security assistance
more effective.

The approach generally followed in analyzing the defense capabilities
of an allied country for the purpose of providing security. assistance has been
to examine its combat forces, support forces, and economic and social structure.
Although military planners have done a thorough job of analyzing combat forces,
they have often neglected the support capabilities that a country needs to
defend itself. A major cause for this neglect has been the lack of an analytical
framework. Recognizing this, the Army contracted for a study by the Stanford
Research Institute to develop a framework that, when applied to a particular
country, should enable the analyst to understand more fully all major factors
that pertain to a country's defense capabilities and to identify more readily
deficiencies in its defense posture that could be corrected by U.S. security
assistance.

Foreign aid legislation for fiscal year 1074 lifted a number
of the restrictions and limitations imposed on U.S. security assistance; for
instance, the dollar limits on previous grant aid to Latin America and Africa
were lifted, as was the requirement that grant aid countries deposit an amount
equal to 10 percent of their programs. In addition, the Congress repealed the
requirement that U.S. military assistance
advisory groups certify the ability of host countries to use military equipment
provided under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended. On the other
hand, certain provisions of the law were made more stringent. Tighter control
was placed on furnishing excess defense articles to foreign countries, and
prohibitions were established against providing
police training to foreign students outside of the United States.

United States security assistance was a major factor in
support of combat operations in Cambodia during the past year. Unfortunately,
the Cambodian operation drew grant aid funds away from other countries, not only
in Southeast Asia, but throughout the world. For example, the full $250 million
authorized by Congress for emergency security assistance was applied by the
President to the needs of Cambodia principally for ammunition.

[13]

This sum, added to the normal grant aid program, gave
Cambodia a total of $375 million to sustain its defense operations.

Both Laos and the Republic of Vietnam continued to receive
their military assistance through Department of Defense appropriations
or Military Assistance Service Funds (MASF) during the reporting period. At the
end of the fiscal year; however, funding for Laos was transferred by
congressional determination from MASF to the Military Assistance Program (MAP)
under the Foreign Assistance Act.

Faced with reduced grant aid in fiscal year 1974, Thailand
showed increased interest in acquiring military materiel through the Foreign
Military Sales program. Thailand's improved economic posture allowed this
partial transition, which is in step with the U.S. policy of encouraging greater
self-reliance by countries in reaching adequate defense capabilities.

During fiscal year 1974 Latin American countries endeavored
to modernize their armed forces for internal defense and mutual security.
Despite decreasing levels of MAP grant aid funds available
to support the security assistance effort worldwide, MAP training
programs were maintained in the majority of Latin American countries at only a
slightly reduced level. Foreign military sales increased as emphasis on grant
aid decreased.

Support to Chile was increased after the overthrow of the
Allende regime. This assistance program is expected to receive a high priority
as the Chilean government modernizes its military forces.

In Ecuador, the security assistance program was reestablished
in fiscal year 1974 following a three-year lapse brought on by the
U.S.-Ecuadorian dispute over fishing rights and territorial sea claims. The new
program demonstrated U.S. interest in Ecuador through resumption of close
military-to-military relations with the Ecuadorian armed forces and through
promotion of mutual security interests.

Peru and the United States were also involved in a fishing
dispute before fiscal year 1974. The present security assistance program is
designed to improve relations between the U.S. and Peruvian governments
generally, and the military forces of the two countries specifically.

Security assistance to Bolivia remained at a high level
throughout the year. Materiel assistance
continued to be based primarily on grant aid rather than foreign military sales
credits.

For African countries, the $40 million congressional ceiling
on foreign military sales was retained. Cash sales and training costs, however,
were excluded for the first time in computing the ceiling. Meanwhile, several
African nations, particularly those countries

[14]

where U.S. installations are located, showed an increasing
interest in receiving U.S. equipment and materiel under the Foreign Military
Sales program.

In the Middle East, U.S. Army engineers and explosive ordnance
demolition technicians joined elements of the U.S. Navy in helping the United
Arab Republic reopen the Suez Canal. Operating as part of Combined Task Force (CTF)
65, Army troops trained and subsequently advised elements of eight Egyptian
Engineer battalions and two Egyptian Explosive Ordnance Demolition
battalions on minefield clearance and explosive ordnance demolition procedures.
The operation, code name NIMBUS MOON LAID, began on 11 April 1974 and was
originally scheduled to last at least one year. The professional competence
demonstrated by both the Egyptian Army trainees and U.S. Army trainers and
advisers, however, justified a more optimistic prediction. The Army portion of
the Suez Canal operation should be completed in late July 1974.

Countries throughout the Middle East, particularly Israel and
Saudi Arabia, expressed more interest, too, in obtaining first-line U.S.
military hardware through the Foreign Military Sales program.

Training, a major military assistance activity, was supported
at higher levels in fiscal year 1974 than in the previous year. Table 1
shows the fiscal year 1974 program as provided for in the Foreign Assistance
Act.

TABLE 1 - MILITARY TRAINING UNDER THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT IN FISCAL YEAR 1974

The Army gives substantial support to federal, state, and
local agencies through a number of continuing programs, such as civil defense
and the Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic (MAST) program, and in
emergencies, such as natural disasters and civil disturbances.

On 1 October 1973 responsibility for Army support of the Department
of Defense Domestic Action Program shifted from the Office of the Deputy Chief
of Staff for Personnel to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations
and Plans. On 20 November 1973, the program was redesignated the Department of
Defense Community Service Program, similar in name to the Army Community
Service Program but an altogether unrelated activity. Near the close of the
fiscal year, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs
acted to decentralize the program, but a
final decision on whether or not it should remain a DOD program or be maintained
on a separate basis by each of the military services was still pending.

A major responsibility of the Defense Civil Preparedness
Agency (DCPA), successor agency to the Office of Civil Defense, is the operation
of a national civil defense communications and warning system for transmitting
information on impending enemy attack to all levels of government and to the
public. The U.S. Army Communications Command (USACC) provides the communications
support required by DCPA to carry out its communications
and warning functions. A revised memorandum of understanding
between DCPA and USACC was approved in March 1974, superseding an outdated 1966
agreement. Under the new agreement, USACC responds to policy guidance and
requirements from DCPA on communications and warning, operates the emergency
systems, has technical control over the three National Warning
Centers, provides staff assistance to DCPA regional directors, and handles
budgeting, funding, and supply for the DCPA communications
and warning systems that it supports. DCPA oversees
operations, is responsible for the warning officers assigned to the National
Warning Centers, and provides funds for the development
of radio warning systems.

Fiscal year 1974 was a period of reduced yet extensive
explosive ordnance disposal operations. The Army responded to 787 requests from
the U.S. Secret Service to eliminate explosive hazards in vehicles and
facilities frequented by key government officials and other dignitaries. The
Army also met over 3,300 requests from civil authorities to deal with the
hazards associated with bomb

[16]

threats, transportation accidents involving explosives, and
disposal of war souvenirs. Additionally, the Army trained 500 students from
state and federal law enforcement agencies to handle homemade
bomb threats. By helping civil agencies to increase their explosive ordnance
disposal capabilities, the Army reduced its own work load. All told there was a
7 percent drop in the number of ordnance disposal requests during fiscal year
1974.

The Army was also involved in the fight against terrorism.
Public Law 92-539, enacted on 24 October 1972, had extended federal protection
to foreign officials and official guests of the United States and to their
families and staffs, some 137,000 persons in 182 U.S. cities. The Federal Bureau
of Investigation, working closely with local authorities, was made responsible
for directing operations against criminal activity, including acts of terrorism,
covered by the statute. The Departments of Justice and Defense agreed that
Defense would respond to reasonable FBI requests for military
resources-materiel, facilities, and technical advisers to
help combat terrorism. Designated by the Secretary of Defense
as executive agent, the Secretary of the Army ordered the Army staff,
specifically the Directorate of Military Support, to assist the FBI.

In August 1973, the Secretary of the Army approved an FBI
request to purchase M16 rifles, M79 grenade launchers, M1903 sniper rifles, and
associated munitions for FBI Special Weapons and Tactics teams at the FBI
Academy, Quantico, Virginia. On 17 April 1974 the Under Secretary of the Army
approved a second request to buy military ordnance items. Then in late June the
Under Secretary approved a third request, this time for helicopters to train
personnel in descending onto the rooftops of buildings to rescue hostages. Using
CH-46 and UH-1 helicopters, the Marine Corps was to conduct the training at
Quantico, Virginia. Initially, some sixty FBI personnel were to participate.
After an evaluation by the Department of Defense, the program may be expanded to
include the training of approximately a thousand members of FBI Special Weapons
and Tactics teams.

Federal agencies involved in drug and narcotic interdiction
continued to receive the Army's military support. Assigned Army staff
responsibility in August 1973, the Director of Military Support
assisted the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) by providing enlisted
technicians to train DEA people how to operate and maintain radars and sensor
devices and by lending and servicing
military vehicles. The Army increased its loan of T-41B aircraft
from four to nine. It also helped the Drug Enforcement Administration in its
support of the government of Jamaica's

[17]

"Operation Buccaneer," an attack against marijuana production
and trafficking, by lending four helicopters and six trucks and training DEA
pilots how to operate the helicopters.

Army support of the U.S. Customs Service during the past year
included the loan and sale of radars , night vision devices, sensor equipment,
and vehicles. The U.S. Customs Service also participated
with the Army in the procurement of certain sensors and night vision goggles.

On 16 November 1973 the President signed legislation (Public
Law 93-155) that authorized the Department of Defense to use military
helicopters and service people to support the Military Assistance to Safety and
Traffic Program. The new law permitted the expansion of the program from the
five participating Army installations noted in last year's report to twelve
posts at the close of fiscal year 1974. Three additional sites were later
approved for participation in the program.

On 3 April 1974, a series of tornadoes hit nine
states-Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, South
Carolina, and Tennessee-causing severe damage in scattered areas. Army, Navy,
and Air Force installation commanders in these states committed people,
equipment, and supplies to save lives and lessen human suffering and property
damage. During the first twenty-four hours of the disaster, over 275 people and
35 vehicles of the Army were involved in helping disaster victims.

On 5 April 1974, President Nixon declared sections of six of
the nine tornado stricken states as major disaster areas. At the same time Fifth
U.S. Army selected military officials to represent the Department
of Defense in the major disaster states. These representatives
worked closely with the federal coordinating officer appointed to each disaster
area in providing military aid. At the height of military support the Army
provided 843 people, 4 ambulances, 150 vehicles, 4 helicopters, and 12
communications packets.

Work continued during the past year on the National Communications
System Plan. Details were completed on a proposal to provide mobile
communications teams to support activities of the Federal Disaster Assistance
Administration in major disaster areas. U.S. Army Forces Command would furnish
the teams upon the request of the Federal Disaster Assistance Agency. Each team
would contain twenty portable radios with a base station, equipment
for two high-frequency radio nets, and sufficient people for a thirty-day,
around-the-clock operation.

The Directorate of Military Support coordinated for the Department
of Defense emergency bridging and transportation services
at Hilton Head, South Carolina, during the spring of 1974.

[18]

While U.S. Navy landing craft provided emergency
transportation, U.S. Army engineer units from Fort Belvoir, Fort Benning, and
Fort Bragg constructed an 855-foot ponton bridge over the inland waterway to
handle vehicular traffic; the bridge was capable of opening and closing to allow
the passage of intercoastal waterway traffic. From 3 April to 22 April 1974,
42,794 vehicles used the bridge. The state of South Carolina, which had
requested assistance on 28 March, agreed to pay for the incremental costs
($80,324) associated with the project.

Anticipating that industrial pollutants in the public water
supplies of Duluth, Minnesota, and other
cities along the, shores of Lake Superior might require military help in
providing potable water, the Directorate of Military Support surveyed
capabilities of the Department of Defense to meet such an emergency and estimated
the costs involved. Although emergency assistance was not required, the Corps of
Engineers, acting under authority of Public Law 93-251, provided clean drinking
water, costing by the end of fiscal year 1974 approximately $82,000.

On 21 August 1973, the Department of justice identified Fort
Wingate Depot Activity, an Army Materiel Command ammunition storage facility
located near Gallup, New Mexico, as a possible target for demonstrations by
dissident Indians and indicated the demonstrators might be armed with "dynamite,
grenades, a rifle, and a machine gun." By 12 September about fifty demonstrators
were in the Gallup area. On 13 September the Army decided to take precautionary
measures. Brigadier General William L. Mundie, assistant commander of the 4th
Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado, headed a federal military task
force, the major component of which was a military police company, that arrived
at Fort Wingate on 20 September. The task force augmented the regular civilian
security force and took part in patrolling operations.
Overt violence against Fort Wingate, however, did not materialize,
and the task force, which reached a peak strength of 220, returned to home
stations on 24 September.

In January 1974, the nation's independent truck operators
went on strike to call attention to energy-related problems affecting the
trucking industry. After seven days, forty-two states were touched by the strike
and related violence. The Army was then allowed to move essential military cargo
and to loan military transport to the National
Guard and civil authorities in cases involving health, food, and welfare. The
Directorate of Military Support developed supporting
plans with the Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service and established
liaison with the Departments of Justice and Transportation.

In the Army staff reorganization prescribed by General Order
10, 8 May 1974, the Directorate of Military Engineering and Topography (D/ME&T)
in the Office of the Chief of Engineers was abolished, and its principal
engineering and topographic functions were transferred to other Army staff
agencies on 20 May 1974. Development of the
engineer elements of Army forces, including the engineer aspects of detailed
force structures, doctrine, mobilization
planning, training and readiness, materiel needs, engineer tables of
organization and equipment, tables of distribution and allowances, combat
developments, and the planning and evaluation of the Army Survival Measures
Program were transferred from the Directorate of Military Engineering and
Topography to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans.
Assistance in preparing policies and concepts for individual training was
transferred to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, and
technical supervision of research and development of engineer materiel required
to support the army in the. field, including related international
standardization activities, was transferred to the Office of the Deputy Chief of
Staff for Research, Development, and Acquisition.
Primary topographic functions were also transferred to other Army elements,
although responsibility for basic research in support
of military engineering and topographic activities was retained.
The Office of the Chief of Engineers also continued to carry out such
topographic functions as support to the Assistant Chief of Staff for
Intelligence in executing Army topographic activities, assessment
of Defense Mapping Agency responsiveness to Army requirements,
and management of military geographic information and hydrographic activities.
The Chief of Engineers remained, however,
the principal adviser to the Army Chief of Staff in all military engineering
matters.

The Army's system of expedient airfield surfacing consists of
prefabricated landing mats to provide strength on weak soil, prefabricated
membranes to waterproof soil, and dust control materials,
all of which are designed to provide Army engineers with a capability to
construct airfields, heliports, and roads to support mobile air and ground
operations under varying climatic and topographical conditions. Testing was
successfully concluded on an extruded aluminum truss-web heavy-duty landing mat,
which will support present and projected tactical and cargo aircraft, and on an
aluminum honeycomb-core, sandwich-type, medium-duty landing mat to support
tactical and cargo aircraft of medium loads. Testing continued on a dust control
system of polyvinyl acetate water-

[20]

emulsion material along with a sectionalized liquid
distributor to emplace the material.

For mine and countermine warfare, a helicopter-delivered fuel
air explosive system underwent additional testing. Once the accuracy
of the delivery means has been demonstrated, and when doctrine for employment
has been developed, the system will be considered for general Army use. The fuel
air explosive system is expected to provide an effective means of minefield
neutralization in low- to mid-intensity warfare.

The development and operational testing of the Family of
Military Engineer Construction Equipment (FAMECE) continued. The tests will
determine which prototypes satisfy Army requirements
and which development program should be continued. Also, deliveries began on the
25-ton hydraulic crane, and contracts were awarded for the 4 1/2 to
5-cubic-yard scoop loader, the T-11 crawler tractor, the utility tractor with
backhoe and loader, and the 40-ton semitrailer. Delivery of the contracted
items, scheduled to begin during fiscal year 1975, will improve the capabilities
and efficiency of engineer construction units.

The first session of the Diplomatic Conference on the Law of
War met at Geneva, Switzerland, from 20 February to 29 March 1974. Sponsored by
the International Committee of the Red Cross, the conference was convened by the
Swiss government to consider two draft protocols designed to update the Geneva
conventions of 1949. Before the conference, the Army actively participated in
the formulation of the U.S. position and the conduct of international
negotiations on the two draft protocols. The Army helped in the development of
joint Chiefs of Staff recommendations for the U.S. position and later the
coordination between the Departments of Defense and State that produced U.S.
position papers on the articles in the two draft protocols.

Controversy surrounding the seating of delegations occupied
the first two weeks of the conference and seriously impaired its effectiveness.
A motion to seat the Peoples Revolutionary government of South Vietnam was
defeated by a margin of one vote. The liberation
movement in Portuguese Guinea (Guinea-Bissau), which has been recognized by the
United Nations General Assembly as an independent state, was seated as a
government. A number of other national liberation movements recognized by
intergovernmental regional organizations, for example, the Arab League and the
Organization of African Unity, were allowed
to participate in the conference as
observers without voting privileges.

[21]

An article extending the Geneva conventions to all armed
conflicts "in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien
occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self
determination" was adopted by Committee I of the conference. There was a strong
movement to have the conference as a whole adopt this article, but a compromise
was developed that "welcomed" but did not "accept" the action of Committee I.
Considerable interest was shown at the conference in introducing a "just war"
concept into humanitarian law. This concept would grant protection to victims of
conflicts on the basis of the cause for which they fight. It would destroy the
fundamental principle of humanitarian law that all victims of conflict are
equally entitled to protection and would raise the possibility that those
fighting for causes not deemed "just" would be considered criminals rather than
lawful combatants.

Following the conference, the Army assisted in evaluating the results and in
developing recommendations on the U.S. position at the second session of the
conference, which will convene in February 1975. In addition, the Army helped to
develop background material for use in a conference of government experts on
weapons that are said to cause unnecessary suffering. This meeting is scheduled
for late September 1974.